Alec Guinness: The Authorised Biography

by Piers Paul Read

Sir Alec Guinness was one of the greatest actors of the twentieth century. With a talent recognised by discerning critics from his very first appearance on the stage, he gained a world-wide reputation playing roles on the screen such as Fagin in Oliver Twist and Sidney Stratton in The Man in the White Suit. His performance as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai won him an Oscar and, in his later years, he captivated a new generation of admirers as George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars.
Guinness was a man who vigorously guarded his privacy and, despite publishing an autobiography and two volumes of his diaries, he remained an enigma to the general public and a mystery even to his family and closest friends.
After his death in August 2000, his widow, Merula, asked the author Piers Paul Read, who had been a friend of her husband, to write his authorised biography. Given full co-operation by the Guinness family and free access to Sir Alec's papers, including his private and unpublished diaries, Read has written an enjoyable, yet penetrating and perceptive account of an intriguing and complex man.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, 20th Century, Theatre

640 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

British novelist and non-fiction writer. Educated at the Benedictines' Ampleforth College, and subsequently entered St John's College, University of Cambridge where he received his BA and MA (history). Artist-in-Residence at the Ford Foundation in Berlin (1963-4), Harkness Fellow, Commonwealth Fund, New York (1967-8), member of the Council of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (1971-5), member of the Literature Panel at the Arts Council, (1975-7), and Adjunct Professor of Writing, Columbia University, New York (1980). From 1992-7 he was Chairman of the Catholic Writers' Guild. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL).

His most well-known work is the non-fiction Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors (1974), an account of the aftermath of a plane crash in the Andes, later adapted as a film.

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mostly is concerned with his spiritual life, which is not uninteresting. But, if you're after details of his work life, this is not the one.

[Sujata · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative read about Alex Guiness and the details of his life, his friends and family the movies he starred in, etc. I liked there were photos of certain movies and photos of certain periods in his life. It was a first bio I learned about his reading preferences, his favourite authors, his love of Catholic religion and learning about his wife Merula and her family as well. It was a very detailed book of his life.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read gives a wonderful history of people in the worlds of both theater and literature. It is gripping sometimes; always interesting. Guiness was a very human man.

[Adam]

Standard fare as biographies go. Reads a bit like a diary at times. Surprised to find out Guinness was already a pious Anglo-Catholic when he was received into the Catholic Church, surprised b/c Guinness's own story was that his Anglo-Catholicism was not very devout or genuine--not true. He strikes me--horrifyingly--as a spiteful and catty man whose Catholic religion kept him from being worse. The author, Read, at least twice compares him, in this respect, to another horrible but interesting man, Evelyn Waugh. Guinness seems to have reversed roles and been the one who pecked at his constantly about small things. A notable comment about English Catholics of the 20th-c.: they much preferred the redeemed sinner than the saint, i.e. much more heartening or relieving to hear about there being hope for curs like Waugh than about genuine conversions which bear significant fruit and actual change. The biographer cannot really say anything at length about the artistic dimensions of Guinness's stage and film acting, or else Guinness's own work can't bear the analysis. The latter is truly suggested by the fact that his choices of film especially later in life seems driven by money-making, wh. Guinness was good at. Despite his sophistication, he seems always to have been bourgeois, the kind constantly concerned by money-matters but constantly affecting, in small ways, not to be so. Can't say I leave the book liking Guinness more; given that this is an authorised biography, that means Read's is on this score a genuine accomplishment.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a secretive weirdo

[Sylvia Tedesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is another book listed here by Paul R. Read authoring "Alec Guiness". A mistake. Great biography!

[Alex Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent biography by Piers Paul Read, one of Britain's best writers - check out his great novel 'The Upstart' and his factual account of the Great Train Robbery.

[Katharine Holden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of interesting details, like a letter or diary entry written at the time by a man who meets Guinness during the war and thinks of him as a well-read officer named Cuffe.

[John Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very candid book about the life of one of my favorite actors, Alec Guinness. A great story that is well told in this long book. Sir Alec's performances in theater, cinema, and TV are aptly described. The actor's personal letters and diary entries give a great insight into his feelings about the plays, movies, and people that he worked with. Overall, an exceptional book about the life, loves, faith, and times of this beloved actor.